What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger
by Melanie-Says
Summary: The Host Club- A group of young, handsome men who in hindsight are probably the most stupid individuals you'll ever meet, though this seemingly big mistake that they made, might just be the best one yet. How will they cope with their sudden suspension to Ouran Public High School? No one really knows, but you know what they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
1. Chapter 1

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Chapter One

"Haruhi," Tamaki whined, "Do you know where my Kuma-chan is?" Haruhi rolled her eyes at him, this was the third time in a week that he's lost that stupid stuffed bear of his, and frankly, she wouldn't be surprised if anyone in the host club threw it out.

"No senpai, for the millionth time, I don't, now leave me alone so I can study." Haruhi mumbled, giving her attention back to the book she had been reading before she was so rudely interrupted by her elder.

"But Haruhi! Kuma-chan is missing again, how am I supposed to get anything done with him gone?" Tamaki complained again. Haruhi gritted her teeth, trying extra hard not to punch Tamaki in the throat so he could never utter a word again.

"I don't know and I don't care; leave me alone!" Haruhi exclaimed, a bit louder this time. She could hear the tsk's from the twins as she tried once again to read her book, but to no avail, failed.

"Now now Haruhi," Hikaru chirped.

"That isn't the way to talk to your elder, maybe you should be nicer to him." Kaoru finished. Haruhi closed her eyes and gave a deep sigh; how dense are these people? She picked herself and her books up before making her way to the door of the host club.

"Sorry guys, I don't have the patience to put up with you antics today, I have things to do and places to be."

"Are you talking about the market, Haru-chan?" Hunny asked from his area, eating cake with Mori, who had barely been paying attention until Hunny mentioned the supermarket. Haruhi bit her lip, reluctant to tell them since she knew very well that they could decide to come with her, but since Hunny already knew, she nodded her head and as expected, she was flustered by the crowd of handsome men, excited to go to the market. She was going to shoot their dreams down, but she saw a depressed Tamaki in the corner, staring at a reasonably large portrait of his beloved Kuma-chan, the amount of sadness Haruhi saw was too much to bare, even for she.

"Fine, but no acting like a bunch of three year olds, got it?" She asked, receiving five nods in her direction. Everyone was just about ready to leave before they noticed something.

"Umm, where's Kyoya?" Hikaru asked. Tamaki snapped his fingers, expressing that he had an idea in his head.

"We have a science test tomorrow, I bet he probably just went to the classroom to pick up his books or something." Tamaki answered. They shrugged their shoulders before going to the year two science lab.

Once they entered, they immediately saw Kyoya sitting at a science desk, investigating two chemicals in his hand, of course the curious group decided to go up to him and interrogate.

"So Kyoya, being a nerd as usual?" Kaoru questioned with a smirk on his face, picking up a vial filled with a foul smelling, dark green liquid. Kyoya ignored Kaoru's comment and instead turned his attention to the burner he turned on.

"I have work to do, missing school yesterday was probably the biggest mistake of my life, so leave me alone." Kyoya said, heating up one of the vials carefully over the open flame. Tamaki picked up a different one, one that Hikaru had also reached for, causing him to get slightly pissed off.

"Milord, I wanna see it!" Hikaru whined, grabbing for the liquid in his hands.

"Wait a minute, Hikaru!" Tamaki replied, accidentally knocking over a few bottles in an attempt to dodge Hikaru's hands.

"C'mon boss, just let Hikaru see it." Kaoru commented, also starting to reach for the glass.

"Guys, watch out!" Haruhi exclaimed, the mess the had made wasn't really big compared to what happened next.

_Boom!_

Smoke erupted everywhere and the vials which were still in Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru's hands, were now mixed with the one's they had spilled a few moments before, causing a reaction big enough to start eating through the floor boards. The host club stood in shock as they saw the science classroom disappear before their eyes, then got quickly pulled out the room by a passing teacher, who had seen the smoke go through the cracks in the door. Within a few minutes, whoever was left in the school was evacuated and it was obvious what had happened:

Ouran Academy was unusable, and it was all science's (and the host club's) fault.

Haruhi stared over at the catastrophe that was happening, what had been one childish little mess up, had now taken over the entire east corridor, which is small compared to the entire campus, but nevertheless, it was enough to piss people off. Within another ten minutes of the evacuation, the host club was called to the headmasters office, and no one was more scared than Tamaki.

Yuzuru Suoh was sitting in his chair when he heard the explosion erupt, not aware of the full situation until a secretary informed him, when he asked for the security tapes, he wasn't surprised in the least to see his son and his group of friends walk into that classroom, and was even less surprised to see Tamaki sobbing his heart out exiting it. As any good principal would do, he called them up to his office, it didn't matter who they were, or what their possible pleas were, they had to be punished.

One by one, the host club sulked into his office, Tamaki being the last, his blonde hair drooped low across his head and shame seeping through every pore of his face. Yuzuru cleared his throat, and addressed them.

"You are all very well aware of why I called you here today-"

"It was an accident!" Tamaki wailed at his father, who had just pushed him off, but not before laughing on the inside.

"-well, accident or no accident, we're going to have to rebuild that corridor, and you know what that means,"

"No science for the rest of the year?" The twins chorused optimistically.

"Good heavens, of course not. We just have to move it to the library temporarily, though I think that would be too easy."

Everyone's ears perked up, the way headmaster said that scared them.

"What do you mean?" Hunny asked. Yuzuru chuckled before answering.

"As I hope all of you have already contemplated, you must be punished, no?" He got seven slow and sad nods in his direction, so he continued. "Well, I have the _perfect _idea." He let out a dark chuckle, one that even made the shadow king feel a chill up his spine.

"I don't like this..." Mori started, attempting to sneak away with Hunny, but to no avail. The headmaster smiled at him.

"I have decided, that you six- I mean, seven men, shall instead be temporarily suspended, therefor causing all of you to instead go to the Ouran High School."

Seven jaws dropped to the floor, while the Yuzuru continued, satisfied with their reactions.

"That's right, you must go to _commoner school."_ He rephrased. At this point, Tamaki and the twins were crying, while Haruhi had already gotten over her shock quick, as had Kyoya, Mori and Hunny.

"We have to go to filthy public school?!" The twins wailed.

"But, how am I supposed to help myself in that horrid jungle father! Think about how _poor _everyone is, they haven't even tasted fancy tuna!" Tamaki dramatically points to Haruhi, who had an unamused look on her face.

"I'm only doing what I think is best for you, now go, I'll be looking forward to seeing your cars outside of the high school tomorrow." He smiled one last time, as he shooed everyone out of the door. They all had the same thing going through their minds.

They really screwed up this time.

A:N: Hello world! This is Melanie-Says here with a new story! Sorry if this first chapter is a little slow, but I just wanted the kind of prologue first, so anyway, hope you can stick with me through this and enjoy! Reviews are appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Chapter Two

Haruhi cast a menacing stare towards the hosts, a horrid glow casting around her, she was pissed, and everybody could see that.

"Umm, Haru-chan? You don't look so happy..." Hunny gulped in fear. Haruhi walked over to Kyoya, who had his shadow king aura progressively getting darker and more sinister every passing second; he was going to make sure all hell was going to break loose.

"I had a scholarship, a scholarship to the most prestigious school in the country, and you dumbasses messed that up." She growled, he hair blocking the hosts view of her face, though none of them wanted to see it, it could probably scar them for life.

"We're... sorry?" Tamaki whimpered from behind everybody. Haruhi stayed still for a moment, then walked up to Tamaki and kicked him as hard as she could in his manliness. The cry of pain could be heard shaking through the entire school, but no one came for help since they all knew Tamaki had a history for over-reacting. Haruhi slowly walked out of the building, taking precaution not to turn around and see the shock on the hosts faces', and as soon as she was a distance away from Ouran, she started crying. The tears were streaming down her face, and she was ashamed of them, but she couldn't hold that in; her dreams of becoming a lawyer seemed to have all washed away in an instance, all because those rich bastards couldn't think for themselves for once.

She sat on the hard, cold pavement; thinking about how much of a failure she felt like, when it started raining.

"Oh fuck it!" She yelled at the sky, picking herself and he stuff up; at least this way no one could see that she was crying.

"Haruhi?"

Haruhi snapped her head to the side, astonished to see a girl with straight blonde hair that reached her waist, and bright green eyes. She was wearing a red girl's uniform, the hem of the skirt reaching just above her knee, and the sleeves a bit puffed out. There was a bow meeting her cleavage, almost masquerading it instead. In an instance, she ran over to Haruhi and smiled at her.

"Asaka?" Haruhi asked, perplexed at the sudden arrival. Asaka nodded her head sweetly.

"Yep! Long time no see!" She greeted back. Haruhi didn't respond, only staring at her. When Asaka noticed this, she tilted her head to the side a bit, confused on why Haruhi was so mute. "Is something wrong, Haruhi?" She questioned, putting her hand up to her face to check for any sign of left-over food. Haruhi shook her head.

"No, nothing's wrong, I just didn't expect to see you here."

"And I didn't expect to see you, especially not in a _male _uniform."

Haruhi almost blushed.

"It's a long story, want to come over for some tea?" She asked, motioning in the direction of her apartment. Asaka checked her watch that she kept on the underside of her wrist.

"I'd love some, is your dad still working until night?" She started as Haruhi and her commenced their walking home. Asaka had taken out her umbrella that she was carrying, so Haruhi eventually started to dry a bit.

"Yea, I don't see him much anymore, especially not since I arrived at Ouran." She hissed at the mention of the school. Asaka widened her eyes in surprise, not expecting that reaction from such a prestigious school.

"Is there something a matter with Ouran?"

"Only everything!" Haruhi shouted in frustration, Asaka looked at her short friend, slightly amused at what was happening, but at the same time she was a bit frightened, something bad must have happened.

"I'm guessing that this is part of the 'long story'?" She laughed a bit. Haruhi nodded her head, opening the door as she walked into her apartment. "I've got time, I would love to hear it, especially considering that everyone is missing you back at school."

Haruhi almost banged her head into the wall, but walked into the living room, set down the tea, and proceeded to tell her the now infamous story of how she broke what is now commonly known simply as '_the vase_'. Asaka listened, and in the end, laughed. Haruhi gave her a look to tell her how serious she was about not liking the hosting gig, but couldn't help but smile a bit at it too; after all, the story was ridiculous.

"So is that why you were swearing at the sky earlier?"

Haruhi groaned. "No, that's a different story, it involves all six of the idiots from the last one though." Asaka perked her ears up, eager to hear the rest, though she never got to hear another word as their was a knock on the door. "That's probably my dad." Haruhi answered while getting up, though Asaka beat her to the door. She always liked Haruhi's dad, he was a kind, funny man, and he liked her back, their mutual love of bows and girlish shoes put them on the same page about Haruhi's distasteful fashion sense.

Asaka opened the door, fully expecting to be glomped by Mr. Fujioka, but instead received two confused stares from the men outside.

Haruhi, poked her head from the side of Asaka, who was quite a bit taller than her, and almost slammed the door when she saw the twins standing outside.

"Oh hell no! Go away!" She yelled, almost succeeding in her former thought. Hikaru stuck his foot into the door way, stopping the impending slam, cursing under his breath when it crushed it.

"Haruhi! We just wanna apologize!" Kaoru rolled his eyes.

"I should make some popcorn, this is gonna get interesting..." Asaka murmered.

"Hey! Don't take pleasure from our pain!" Hikaru complained through the door.

"You hypocrites! You do that to everyone, but when it happens to you it's a big 'no-no'?" Haruhi shouted, trying her hardest to close the door, though failing since two twins are stronger than one girl. Hikaru and Kaoru made their way inside, and just waited there, staring Haruhi down until she started paying attention to them again; she had tried to make conversation with Asaka again, but her attention was averted by the two handsome red-heads standing there. Her face blushed a bright pink at the thought of them, but when they were standing right behind her, she flushed to a deep red, one that she couldn't conceal.

"Hey, Haruhi, if you don't listen to us, we'll get to your little friend here." They chorused together. Asaka tried her best to move inch-by-inch away from them, but they rooted her in place as they placed arms around her, one above her shoulder, and one around her back.

Haruhi rolled her eyes, took Asaka's hand, and tried to pull her out of their grasps, though failing. Hikaru propped his head on her left shoulder, while Kaoru proceeded to do the same on her right.

"Isn't this sexual harassment?" Asaka wondered out loud.

"Only if you don't like it," Hikaru answered.

"And be honest, you know you do."

Haruhi scoffed at that.

"Don't be such inconsiderate assholes, Asaka would never-" She stopped when she saw how red the girl's face was, causing a facepalm on Haruhi's part before releasing a deep sigh.

"Fine, I'll listen to you two, just let her go." Haruhi said. This time when she tugged on Asaka's hand, they immediately released her, and she practically stumbled into the door. She checked her watch, mumbled something that Haruhi thought was a goodbye, and then exited the house.

"Great, you managed to run her off." Haruhi muttered.

"Yea yea yea, who was that anyway?" Hikaru asked. After Haruhi contemplated telling them, she opened her mouth to speak.

"That was my best friend in middle school, Asaka Noro."

Kaoru pulled the curtain back and peeked out the window to see the blonde walking down the street, talking to herself. He tilted his head a little when he remembered how she was standing in the door frame, arms held open as if she was expecting something from them. Since Kaoru lost himself in thought, he almost ended up missing the entire conversation.

"... I said we're sorry though!"

"Sorry isn't going to get me back into Ouran!"

"It's not that bad for you! You get to go back to school with all your friends!"

Haruhi's ears perked up a little. That is true, and she totally forgot, she's going back to her old school. Inside she was having a celebration for that occasion, on the outside, she was fuming.

"That means nothing!"

"It does to us! You're gonna be the only friend that we know there!" Hikaru shouted back at her. Once again, Haruhi's world crashed, she was also going to have to continue putting up with... _them. _

"God help me..." She mumbled under her breath.

"C'mon, Hikaru, let's go." Kaoru said quietly, tugging on Hikaru's jacket. Hikaru gave his twin a bewildered and slightly mad look, but then let him lead him outside. Kaoru made note to say good bye to Haruhi though.

"What was that about, Kaoru?" Hikaru asked. Kaoru smirked, kicking a rock on the road, he had dismissed the limo driver and he and his twin were making their way down the street.

"Have you thought that maybe this is actually good for us?" Kaoru asked Hikaru, who had successfully avoided a water puddle.

"Never!" Hikaru persisted. Kaoru shook his head at how obstinate his twin is.

"But think, this could be a good opportunity to try something else, experience commoner life; we do it with Boss all the time, this wouldn't be different."

"Yea, but this is _long-term, _it's longer than a couple hours in a street fair!" Hikaru yelled, walking ahead a little to kick a rock.

_Maybe long term is what you need, _Kaoru thought, staring at his brother.

* * *

A:N: Ello! I'm back again! I have finals this week, so I've been studying a lot, but I think I'll be able to update a bit faster until December, then I have MORE, LONGER finals. But anyway, thanks for the reviews! Hope to see more! (Even if you don't like the story, I'm totally fine with that.) And yes, I do know who Kelly Clarkson is, and I have heard the song, but I meant that the title is used in a more ironic way, but anyway, R&R!


	3. Chapter 3

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Chapter Three

Tamaki straightened his back out, looking at his reflection in the mirror. His new school uniform was ordered immediately, and within a few hours, he had already received the cheap material. Tamaki groaned, remembering how mad Haruhi was with him yesterday, it's not a shock that she was, just he never saw her _that _angry before, it was a new low, even for her.

"Master, the limo is ready for you." A passing maid informed him at the door. Tamaki nodded his head, grabbed his briefcase, and took off down the stairs. He entered the long black vehicle, and didn't stir even once during the entire ride, only giving a thanks to the driver as he exited at the small entrance to Ouran Public High School. He had been here numerous times before, though never for something as harsh as this, (Instead he only came here when his dad did check-ups on how it was going) so he wandered easily along the school grounds, not really paying attention to where he was going until...

_BAM!_

He hit something rather hard, yet frail enough that he immediately felt it falling backward. When Tamaki opened his eyes to see what he had hit, he was shocked to see a girl on the ground with her books scattered on the rough concrete . As his gentlemen ways kicked in, Tamaki scooped most of the books off the ground and handed them back to the girl, immediately noticing her features. She was short, about as small as Haruhi with brown hair that reached past her shoulder and some of the most blue pair of eyes Tamaki had ever seen, though concealing them was make-up, something that despite never admitting to, Tamaki despised; in his eyes, make-up was the main reason girls couldn't understand how beautiful they really are.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you!" The girl wailed, bowing over and over again. Tamaki smiled at her charmingly, something that hadn't changed since yesterday.

"No no, it's my fault, I should have watched where I was going." He replied, shrugging his shoulders. The girl's head snapped up, she had never heard that voice before, and she most certainly had never seen this guy either. She quickly bowed her head again once the blush creeped up on her cheeks, how is she talking to someone so good-looking?

When Tamaki never got a response to his reply, he bent down to the girls height and tried to lift her head up, why was she being so shy?

"What's your name, princess?"

The girl stammered, just saying random vowels and constants that really made no sense in Tamaki's head.

"Can you please say that again? My hearing must be messing up today."

This time she took a deep breath, and looked Tamaki straight in the eye.

"My name's Kiyomi Nakahara, class 2-B." She answered, flipping her brown hair over her shoulder. Tamaki took a step back, quite impressed that the girls reaction wasn't like her first one, in fact quite different.

He held his hand out, which she took and shook.

"Nice to meet you beautiful, I'm Tamaki Suoh." He responded. Kiyomi tilted her head in confusion, then went through her stuff for a paper, when she found it, she looked back up.

"You're Tamaki Suoh?"

"Last time I checked I was."

She checked her paper again, then looked back up and smiled.

"I've been looking for you, I learned last night that I'm supposed to be your escort through the school. I guess there could have been a better way for us to meet, but this works too. Welcome to Ouran!" She exclaimed in glee. Tamaki smiled back at her, but his mind soon wandered off, where is the rest of the host club now?

* * *

Kyoya didn't sleep very well last night, not very shocking considering that he wasn't even allowed back in his own _house. _He ended up bunking with Mori, since of all the hosts, Mori bugged him the least.

Kyoya got up early the next morning, leaving right as Mori and Satoshi woke up, he had things to do if he was going to make his experience at Ouran not as painful as it really will be.

As he got out of Mori's rented limo, he made his way to the front office. The receptionists paid him barely any attention, only giving him a map instead of the planned out directions he asked for. He cursed at them under his breath, mad since he couldn't do anything, he was powerless since his father cut him off until they got back into Ouran Academy, which means no secret service, no police squad of one-hundred, no nothing.

He left the office, and made his way to the library, where once he got there, opened his laptop and did research on the school. He was well onto discovering the principal's past love affair, when he heard the worst mispronunciation of a word known to man, and quickly shut his laptop to correct it.

"Privacy."

"Excuse me?"

"You pronounce it privacy."

He stared at the student in front of him. She had brown hair hanging in loose curls over her shoulder, and dark emerald eyes, she was obviously foreign telling from her facial features and her heavy accent, most likely British. She stared at Kyoya intently.

"I'm sorry, Japanese isn't my native tongue."

"I figured, otherwise you wouldn't be pronouncing every second word wrong."

The girl tilted her head to the side, laid it upon her hands, and bit her bottom lip. She was taking in Kyoya's features and he knew that, but for once in his life, he felt a bit... awkward, having a girl stare at him like that. If Tamaki or the twins were in this position, they wouldn't feel any different, but Kyoya had never really hosted before, preferring to do the finances of course, and suddenly the idea of a girl finding him attractive was a tad bit scary.

"You know, you could have been nicer about that." She continued, starting to pack up her stuff. He saw that she had a '_Japanese Made Easy!_' book in her hand, only making it more and more obvious how bad she really is at speaking it.

"But if I did, I wouldn't be helping you now, would I?" Kyoya replied, taking a sip of his morning coffee that he had the good sense to bring.

"So, you want to help me?"

"I never said that."

"Obviously you just did." She answered back, ripping off a piece of paper, writing something on it and handing it to him. He was slightly astonished at how easily she backfired it to him, but at the same time, he felt a smirk rise on his face, he's always loved a good competition.

He read the paper, which had an address on it, one that Kyoya could only assume was her's.

"The name's Annabelle Smith, foreign exchange student from England, I've been trying to find a tutor to help me with my Japanese, but everybody else just seems too stupid, but you," She started, casting a rather flirtatious look at Kyoya. "I can tell that you're different. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like for you to come over three times a week at five o'clock. Sounds good?"

Kyoya was about to shake his head and tell her no when she smiled at him and waved.

"Well then it's a deal, pleasure to meet you, _Kyoya Otori." _

He stared at her back as she walked out. How the hell did she know that? Or rather, how did she out do him? The thought brought a smile to his face, _this was going to be interesting._

* * *

A:N: Heylo again! Since it's weekend, I've been trying to write a lot, but as I said last chapter, I have stupid finals :(

Yea, so, R&R as usual, and hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Chapter Four

Kyoya and Tamaki walked into the cafeteria, scared at what was to come, they had seen what Haruhi brings for lunch everyday, and only expected worse.

They walked up to the lunch line, Kiyomi stood in front of them, picking up one of the trays and leaving. Kyoya got in front of Tamaki, taking one too, and then waiting for his friend to hurry up.

"Ummm, what is this?" Tamaki asked, pointing to a compartment in the ubento.

"What do you think it is? Food. Take it or leave it." The lady behind the counter answered, pointing to the register so he could check out.

"This doesn't look nearly as good as the food at the Academy. I demand you prepare me a C lunch, and on the spot, or else I'll tell my dad." He puffed his chest out in pride. The lady gave him a look that closely resembled one a teacher gave a student if he completely screwed up, the 'Are you an idiot?' look. Kyoya tugged on Tamaki's blazer.

"Don't make a scene, remember, this is public school, you aren't gonna get what you want. Shut the hell up and go pay." Kyoya mumbled. Tamaki almost cried at the thought of having to eat a commoner's lunch, though held it to himself since the thought of Kyoya beating him for making a scene was far outweighing that.

Tamaki slowly and sluggishly led his way up to the register, paying for his food and then finally following Kiyomi to a table, where to his surprise, the twins and Haruhi were already sitting with two other random girls.

"Hi Asaka, Annabelle." Kiyomi greeted as she sat down at the table. Kyoya eyed Annabelle as he remembered their meeting this morning, the girl definitely had an attitude and wasn't afraid to show it. She in return gave him a sly smile, as if she was playing some sort of game with him, if it was a battle of wits, Kyoya hoped that she was ready to lose.

"Hey Kiyomi, I'm guessing you also got stuck with the newbies?" Asaka guessed. Kiyomi nodded her head.

"Hey! We're right here you know!" The twins exclaimed in unison, causing a few stares to come their way, most automatically turning right back once they got a good look at their face, blush creeping into their own.

"Yea yea yea, shut up and stop complaining." Annabelle said as she rolled her eyes. The twins almost got out of their seats to complain, but Haruhi sat them right down to shut them up.

"Have I mentioned that every time you mispronounce something, it irks me?" Kyoya asked. Annabelle fluttered her eyes.

"Considering the fact we only met this morning, no." She remarked. Kyoya gritted his teeth, sarcasm didn't go well with him unless it came from his mouth.

An awkward silence filled the group, but within minutes, the hosts had already gone back to complaining about the commoner life.

"Did you see the bathrooms? I saw a spider running around there!" Tamaki shouted.

"That's nothing compared to what I saw in art earlier!" Hikaru exclaimed.

"Why? What happened in art?" Kyoya asked. The twins gave him a look.

"Imagine us, a paintbrush, the art teacher's right hand, and the nearest hormonal girl and then try to figure out what happened in art." Kaoru explained. The table fell quiet again, and within moments, the girls let out a shuttering 'ew' as their dirty minds comprehended all the possibilities.

"Okay! Subject change!" Haruhi insisted. Everyone nodded their heads as they prayed that this lunch couldn't possibly get any worse.

"So, where did you guys transfer from? We know Haruhi came from Ouran Academy, but what about you four?" Asaka asked.

"Same." They all replied in unison. The three girls shook their head in confusion.

"Were you there on scholarships?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yea."

They all stared at each other as it dawned on them.

"_So you're rich?!" _They exclaimed. Kyoya shushed them while nodding his head, their loudness caused for too much annoyance in his head.

"Has anyone ever told you how loud you are?" He hissed at them. The girls weren't taken aback much.

"Yea, plenty have actually." Asaka mentioned.

"Mostly Mitsuki and Natsuko but they're the 'quiet' ones, so it's understandable." Kiyomi muttered.

The twins tilted their head in confusion.

"Who are they?"

"Haru-chan! We found you guys!" Hunny exclaimed with delight as he sat down on Haruhi's lap, Mori sat next to her, and behind them were two other girls. Both were short, but one had dark brown hair with bangs that were long enough to almost mask her light grey eyes. Kiyomi had once described them as 'What happens before the storm arrives' though the mystery in that wasn't worth thinking about. The other girl had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes, she faintly reminded the host club of Hunny, but in a less cutesy, more serious way.

"_Those two _would be Natsuko and Mitsuki." Annabelle gestured. Natsuko, the blonde one, waved at the hosts, while Mitsuki barely glanced at them, only giving them a shy smile before seating herself between Asaka and Annabelle. The twins groaned.

"Quiet ones? We can't _stand _quiet people, they're just so boring!" They exclaimed. Natsuko seemed virtually unaffected by their remark, while Mitsuki let her hair cover her face, as if not to let anyone see it.

"Have you two ever considered shutting up? It really works." Haruhi said through gritted teeth. The twins scoffed.

"We just said we can't stand quiet people; why would we be quiet ourselves?" They asked. At this, Mitsuki stood up, whispered something in Mori's ear, and then left. Within moments, Mori had hit both of the twins upside their heads, and had started eating his lunch again.

"Mitsuki is a bit sensitive to what people say, of course you would have to know her for a while before figuring that out." Asaka mumbled, casting a glare towards the twins. So far they hadn't given a very good impression, and no one appreciated that. Natsuko, who was sitting by the sidelines watching the drama unfold, came forward.

"Mitsuki is probably going to be in the library, Mori-senpai, that's where she always goes if she disappears, in the meanwhile, if you need some help, you can ask me." She stated. Mori nodded at her, giving a slight smile that strangely made butterflies erupt in her stomach.

"Oh, so I'm guessing that you two are Hunny and Mori's guides?" Tamaki questioned. Natsuko nodded.

"Mitsuki and I are third years, and we already knew Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai long before you got expelled here."

Everyone gave a confused look towards the short girl, she was about to explain when Hunny spoke up.

"Mitsuki-chan and Natsuko-chan go to our dojo!" Hunny explains. At that, everyone nodded their head in understanding, while Tamaki had a bit of a confused look on his face.

"Hunny," He whispered, "how are they in your dojo?"

Hunny smiled at him. "Natsuko is the highest rank female black belt in the country, while Mitsuki is the runner up; we offered them to come train there and they accepted." Hunny whispered back. Tamaki's eyes widened a bit, even though Hunny was so small yet so fierce, he never expected those two girls to be so... aggressive.

"Guys, we gotta get going, lunch is almost over, plus, you're about to get swarmed by girls in three, two..." Annabelle counted, and as almost if on que, a massive swarm flooded the table, leaving the guys to fend for themselves as the girls got out.

All four of the girls smiled to themselves as they saw how flustered the poor rich bastards were, they may have a duty to show them around school and make them feel welcome, but this was in no way unexpected, they all saw it coming.

"Aren't we going to help them?" Asaka asked, smiling to herself as she saw the twins almost get knocked out of their chairs.

"Nope, let them take it all in at once." Annabelle answered, opening up her '_Japanese Made Easy!_' book and putting a tally underneath her name.

"I can't help but feel bad for this..." Kiyomi muttered, making eye-contact with Tamaki and then motioning that she'll be standing outside.

"You shouldn't, this is our biggest form of entertainment for the rest of the year, and I for one think I'm gonna enjoy it, don't you agree?" Natsuko smirked.

"Definitely."

* * *

A:N: Heylo! Again! Finals are over! No soccer practice this week! It seems like the perfect time to get some more writing in, so I hope you like this chapter! (Hopefully I'll get two more out before I have to return to school, ergh, school...)

Anyway, R&R!


	5. Chapter 5

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Chapter Five

"Listen Kaoru, you can go home already, I have to go to the library to do stupid research for my stupid History class." Hikaru told his brother as they got out of their last class of the day. Though he was tired from being swarmed by girls the entire day, he still had to get this done and figured it probably isn't a smart move to procrastinate since it was due in a couple days.

"I can help you if you need it." Kaoru replied. Hikaru shook his head.

"You got your own work to get done, besides, I work solo."

"Good luck saying that when you're up until one in the morning working on it."

"Ha ha ha, not funny." Hikaru responded flatly. Kaoru smirked at his annoyed twin and then left, giving a slight wave back to Hikaru, who started his departure down the hallway until he noticed something very important.

He had no idea where the hell the library even was.

Immediately he started contemplating hitting his head against a wall, when he ran into a someone.

"My apologies." Hikaru mumbled, giving a bow to the girl. She turned around and immediately Hikaru's eyes popped open, he knew he'd seen this girl before. "Oh, it's you. You're that girl, um, Mitsuko? Mitsaki? Mi-"

"It's Mitsuki. Mitsuki Sakuragi." She mumbled. Hikaru rolled his eyes a bit.

"That's the name. Anyway, I guess I never properly introduced myself, I'm Hikaru Hitachiin." He greeted back, she never replied, causing an awkward moment between the two. "Um, well, if you could help me find the library that would be pretty awesome-"

"It's right here." She said quickly, opening the door to her left and then quickly disappearing in it. Hikaru made his way inside, shaking his head when he realized that it's so different than he expected, it was actually nice, not even close to as extravagant as the Academy, but it still was completely different from the original rust bucket he thought it would look like.

As he made his way through the different shelves, he peeked through an opening to see Mitsuki crawled up in a chair, reading a book. Her eyes were practically glazed with no connection to reality, and she seemed so relaxed, he could almost not comprehend how happy she looked, almost like a completely different person from the shy girl she showed herself to be at lunch. He smiled to himself as he kept searching, though about twenty minutes later while he was researching for his report, he heard something come from Mitsuki's corner.

"You read too much; how could you possibly have fun with that?"

"Maybe you're just too boring to have real fun."

"Or rather, maybe it's just because no one likes you."

"Not even your own parents. How is it back at home, Mitsuki? Still having to deal with that mess you call a family?"

Standing by Mitsuki were two girls, not identical looking, but they were acting almost as if they were twins. Hikaru slowly started to walk up, and when he heard the insults getting worse, he stepped in.

"Hey, Mitsuki! I've been looking all over for you!" He exclaimed, putting one arm around the short girl's shoulder. Her face turned a bright shade of pink to match her confused expression. She was mumbling incoherently, something that underneath his facade, Hikaru was enjoying immensely. Embarrassment is _so _fun!

"Mitsuki, who's this?" One of the girls asked, her tone of voice completely changed as she started fixing her hair, just like the other one.

"This is, um..." Mitsuki started before he interrupted her. Although today had been the first time he ever _really _talked to her, he could tell she's what he liked to call, 'The Haruhi type', basically the type of girl who's so honest, that she would gladly say the truth in a situation, where you _really _don't want to admit the truth.

"I'm Mitsuki's boyfriend, Hikaru." Hikaru explained. The girls looked skeptical, exchanging views of shy Mitsuki and her amazingly cute 'boyfriend' Hikaru. No way in hell did they believe it.

"Boyfriend, huh? And how did Mitsuki get a catch like you? Did she follow you home one day?" They asked, one girl fluttering her eyes as if to be seductive; Hikaru scoffed it off.

"No, I asked her out obviously, don't you know how a relationship works?" He raised an eyebrow. The girls shook their heads.

"There is _no _way a girl like _that _got a guy like _you!_" The second girl exclaimed. Hikaru smirked to himself.

"Oh, so you want proof that I'm not lying?"

"Yes!"

"Well then, is this proof enough?" Hikaru asked while showing them a bracelet. Mitsuki looked at it, eyes lighting up as she flashed from her wrists back to it.

"This is the bracelet I bought for her last birthday, if you look closely, you can see the message I have engraved on it." He explained. The girls looked at the bracelet, and started to get red with fury as they saw what was written inside.

"You _love her?! _How in the world could you do that?!" They argued. Hikaru smirked while taking the bracelet back and fitting it in Mitsuki's pocket.

"Easily, like this." He said before turning Mitsuki around, placing his hands on her face, and kissing her. Mitsuki's face went from pink to dark red, but was so thankful Hikaru's hands were there to conceal it. Though she never admitted it in her life time, she enjoyed the kiss in some strange, incomprehensible way, though boys and kissing was the least of her worries, so she put those thoughts to the side and tried to hide them there.

Within a minute, the girls had left out of frustration, and Hikaru had finally separated himself from her. Mitsuki stuttered, not knowing what to do or say, but couldn't help but smile at Hikaru as she saw his sly grin.

"I'm guessing that was your first kiss, no?" He asked. Her smile almost faded away as she tried to think of a comeback, but failed. "I hope that this somehow repays for me and my twin acting like a jerk earlier, but I heard you're the sensitive type, so that may not work."

Mitsuki shook her head, the smile slowly creeping back on her face. The few short moments she met him at lunch that one day were starting to disappear; the first impression was being replaced by this completely different meeting.

"I'm too sensitive."

"There's no such thing as being too sensitive, it only depends on how you let your sensitivity control you." Hikaru replied, rubbing his head in hesitation. Mitsuki was a smart girl, but that, for whatever reason, made absolutely no sense to her, maybe because it came from this guy she just met, and apparently just kissed?

She mumbled something that Hikaru didn't catch, so he immediately placed his hand on her cheek and lifted her face up. He could see that she was mildly terrified, yet at the same time excited to see what would happen next. Mitsuki in the meanwhile, had her head yelling a million different things at her, number one being, '_Stop acting like a fool! Are you going to let this guy just completely over-run you? Don't let him do this!_' but number two being, '_Look at how dreamy his eyes are! Are you gonna let that just run away from you? You know he's cute, I know he's cute, let's not hide it! Do something different for once!_'

"If you don't speak up, I think I'll have to kiss you again." Hikaru teased, pleased to see her reaction. Somehow, he knew exactly what was happening in her head, she was conflicted, an easy way to help her out.

"No!" She blurted out, immediately covering her mouth at the sudden outburst. You would think that something like this would actually hurt somebody's feelings, but not Hikaru's, he smirked and felt a sense of pride. _Mission accomplished._

"I'll make you a deal, you help me around this school and with work and stuff, and I'll try to get you out more, help you over-come your shyness." Hikaru explained. Mitsuki eventually comprehended his words and nodded, all's she's ever wanted was to be more open, but of course she's a failure at doing that by herself, maybe this will be a good thing.

"Umm, thank you..." Mitsuki managed to say aloud. Hikaru smiled at her.

"There we go! One step closer to our final goal!" He grinned. She managed to smile back, though a thought crossed her head.

"How did you get my bracelet?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out, but what was that engraving on the inside about?" He asked curiously. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the bracelet, her smile slightly fading away as she read the words '_I love you' _over and over again.

"Someone important."

"Someone important? Did this 'important' person give it to you?" Hikaru questioned. She nodded.

"Sister." She mentioned. Hikaru took it all in with interest, taking Mitsuki's tiny wrist and putting the bracelet back on.

"Tell you what, step two on our trip to making you more social will involve you and me for ice-cream tomorrow, this way you can interact more, plus I can hear more about this 'sister' of yours, sounds like a deal?" He asked. Mitsuki's face lit up, and she nodded, fast as lightning. "Then it's a deal. See you later, Mitsuki, and don't forget this." He said as he bent down on the ground and picked her book up for her. She stood there, slightly embarrassed at her literature choice, as he handed her a copy of '_Treasure Island'_ not exactly the novel you'd expect a teenage girl to read for fun, but that didn't matter.

She watched as Hikaru waved back to her one last time and then picked up his things and left. She could see in his eyes how curious he was about everything, about her sister and the bracelet and all that, and eventually she realized that she just agreed to tell him her life story.

_Oh God. Her life story._

_Tomorrow is gonna be one screwed up day._

* * *

_A:N: Words can not describe how much I love this chapter! Okay, by this chapter, you probably figured out the main pairings and I think from now on, I'm gonna do more couple-y chapters, like Hikaru and Mitsuki at the ice cream shop or Kyoya and Annabelle with whatever they're gonna be doing, and then I plan on having some huge group get together, or maybe even a host club at Ouran High? Mwahahahahaha, this all sounds fun! Yus~!_

_Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, I already finished the next one, but it's fairly short, so I'll try to lengthen it, though maybe not today... (I wrote three and a half chapters yesterday, I deserve a break in some world.) R&R!_


	6. Chapter 6

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Chapter Six

Kyoya walked up to the address given to him on that sheet of paper, and when he reached the door, he knocked a bit louder than polite, but what could he say? He was slightly pissed that he had agreed to this.

After waiting for a minute too long, the door finally opened and there stood Annabelle, out of her school uniform and into a pair of frame less glasses, a bright sweater and some shorts, something that Kyoya couldn't fathom since it was the end of summer, she needed to chose one or the other.

"Ah, it's you, Kyoya." She greeted with a smirk. Kyoya rolled his eyes.

"I came here to help you study, not to flirt, now are we gonna do this or not?"

Annabelle was caught a bit off guard, though she led Kyoya inside, and after offering him some tea, settled down at the kitchen table with him, she couldn't help but notice that Kyoya always had this look of annoyance on his face, and that was irritating her.

"Why do you always look so high-strung?"

"Oh, I don't know, _maybe because I got kicked out of not only my house, but the most prestigious school in the country." _

Annabelle stared at Kyoya for a second before laughing, causing an even greater annoyance for the raven-haired man.

"What are you laughing about now?" He exclaimed.

"The fact that you're so smart, yet you're so stupid!"

"Well what about you? You must have done something moronic before!"

Annabelle stopped for a moment, catching Kyoya off-guard, much to his distress.

"Once, but I've been trying to repress it." She whispered. Kyoya gave her a stone face, trying his hardest not to ask her what happened, since A.) She was unpredictable, B.) If something bad happened, he could be triggering some type of PTSD, and C.) He didn't even know if she's being serious or not.

"Am I not supposed to be helping you with your Japanese?" Kyoya asked, once he realized that her face started to droop, almost eliminating choice C, but deep down, he knew it was still an option.

Annabelle looked up, trying her hardest to pick her smile up again, though failing, so instead she just picked up her infamous book, and started studying it, with Kyoya correcting her every few words or so. After a while of doing this, Kyoya got a bit... impulsed.

"What's the point of learning this if it's going to be so boring?" He asked her. Annabelle shook her head.

"Because then you'll know first hand if I'm learning this right."

"Yes yes yes, but look past that, why learn Japanese if you can't apply it to more than one situation?"

"What are you saying?" She asked curiously, an adventurous look popping up in her eye. Kyoya shook his head, if he said this, there was no going back.

"How about, and of course this is just for the sake of learning, we Otori's don't mess around with people we're helping, that we go to that commoner's festival that's coming up?" Kyoya asked. He felt different whenever he spoke to her, almost out of character, of course this is just a symptom of her obviously logical mind challenging his, but her figured, why not make this challenge fun?

Annabelle let a sly smirk caress her face.

"That sounds fun, but why don't we make it a bet?" She asked playfully. Kyoya shook his head no, but of course his 'Tamaki-syndrome" as he liked to call it, _(Tamaki-syndrome: A disease, named affectionately after Tamaki Suoh, which causes the carrier to act like a complete and total idiot out of the sheer purpose of being a bit too curious.) _kicked in, and he eventually gave into her offer.

"Okay, if I make more than one hundred mistakes during the entire duration of the festival, I'll let you stay here in my house, my parents are barely here, so they really won't care, and you won't have to pay a single yen out of your own pocket." She explained. Kyoya listened carefully, he knew somewhere in there that she planted some type of trick, though he couldn't find it anywhere.

"And what's in it for you if I lose?" Kyoya questioned, stirring his tea. Annabelle smiled at him.

"Then you," She mentioned, taking Kyoya's palm and tracing the lines, "will have to go on a date with me, no questions asked."

Kyoya contemplated that for a minute, and then spoke up again.

"Love's a dangerous game to be playing."

"Why? Are you scared you're gonna lose?"

"Of course not, there is only one possible thing I could be worried about and it's not that."

"You better be careful there, Kyoya, sentiment is something only found on the losing side."

"Then wouldn't you be the one losing since you just asked me out on a date in a month?"

Annabelle smirked.

"My my, does this mean that you think you're going to lose?" She questioned flirtatiously.

Kyoya stared at her, completely confused as to what he just said, for once in his life, he didn't have an answer. Annabelle took his hand and began to mess with his fingers, Kyoya didn't move at all.

"You really should stop trying to figure me out, it's never going to work, especially not when I call checkmate on this game."

"Who says you will?"

"The person who just agreed to play a dangerous game with a clever girl; are you sure you're ready for this?" She asked. Kyoya couldn't wrap his head around everything what was happening, and in the future when everything was figured out, he grew to thank himself for saying this, but that day, he never regretted anything so much.

"Yes."

* * *

A:N: Ello world! (Or rather the people who are reading this!) I'm here again! Sorry that this chapter's short, I'm really trying not to make them this short, but of course that doesn't always work so...

Yea, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will come back for the next one! Read and Review!  
(Don't you love a flustered Kyoya? I know I do. Btw, this is probably the time that I should start apologizing for any trace of OOC-ness contained in this story. So yea, sorry!)


	7. Chapter 7

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Chapter Seven

"So, you're saying, that you commoners think that if the price tag saying 19.80, it's a better value than if it says 20?" Kaoru asked Asaka that afternoon. She was helping him with his economics project, and so far all that had happened was a lot of insults and Asaka's questioning of her way of life, but what could she do? It was either help the rich guy out with a project that he could easily be paying someone else to do on their own, or be stuck doing her own project.

"Exactly, you may wanna tell Kyoya about that so he can use it as a strategy." She mentioned. At that, Kaoru stopped and stared at Asaka.

"How do you know about Kyoya and his tactics?" He asked. Asaka laughed to herself.

"Haruhi's my best friend you know, I wouldn't be too surprised on what you hear from me." She answered, putting some chrysanthemum into their shopping bag. Kaoru chuckled, surprising Asaka.

"I'm sorry, did I say something funny?"

"No no, it's just that I bet everything she's told you about us is horrible, right?" Kaoru asked. Asaka shook her head.

"Not at all! Haruhi loves you guys!" She exclaimed before clamping her mouth shut. Kaoru, automatically interested in what she had to say, took a step towards Asaka.

"Oh really? Haruhi loves us? Well what about you, have you been able to get an opinion on her story's?" Kaoru asked. Asaka nodded her head.

"Definitely! I know that Tamaki is the stupid, yet lovable guy, that I shouldn't underestimate Hunny, that Mori actually knows how to speak, Kyoya has ruined many lives, and that the twins..." She trailed. At this, Kaoru took another step closer.

"What about us?" He asked excitedly.

"She said that you two probably put the most fun in her life." Asaka confessed. Kaoru let a small smile slip on his face, one that Asaka immediately saw. "Um, Kaoru, are you in love with Haruhi?"

Kaoru shook his head violently, flustered by the sudden question.

"What?! No!"

Asaka let a sad smile appear, of course he would like Haruhi! Who didn't like Haruhi?!

"Um, Asaka, are you okay? You're digging your nails into your palm." Kaoru cautioned, taking Asaka's hand and immediately feeling the tension in her hand disappear and he peeled back her fingers.

"I'm, um, sorry to make you worry, I'm completely fine." She assured, taking her hand back and feeling a sensation disappear, one that she didn't even realize was there until he let go of her hand.

"Hey, listen, if my actions in any way, shape, or form have hurt your feelings, I-"

"You're Kaoru, right?" Asaka cut in. Kaoru looked at her, confused.

"Yea, why do you ask?"

"By Haruhi's story's, you always act one way with your brother, and act differently away from him though she never specified, first you acted like a jerk to Mitsuki, now you're acting all nice and sweet and charming, it makes you so different from him, it makes you easy to tell apart." Asaka explained. Kaoru's eyes widened, this girl, _this girl, _was going to be the end of him.

Asaka in the meanwhile, smiled at him.

"Anyway, you didn't hurt my feelings at all, it's just Haruhi being Haruhi without Haruhi even realizing that she's doing it..." Asaka said at the speed of light.

"Wait, what? Repeat that again?" Kaoru asked, but it was too late, she was already going onto her next task. He just went with it, but he wondered what she meant by that. "So, um, thank you for helping me with this project, it's a big help."

Asaka turned her head and smiled at him, locking her green eyes with Kaoru's auburn one's, causing a small flutter to go through both of their bodies as they start to feel embarrassed.

"It's no problem, I'm glad to help." She mumbled, staring back at the produce to prevent anymore eye contact. Kaoru kept staring at her, for the first time in his life, he felt something different, this girl didn't fawn over him, she didn't attempt to get close to him in any way, and strangely, he missed that, though he also loved it, she was so refreshing, so different than the girls at Ouran Academy, before he knew it, he had opened his big mouth again.

"Would you like to go out sometime?" He blurted out. Asaka immediately snapped her attention back to him, as if she didn't hear him right.

"Go out? As in a date?" She asked, very flustered and red.

"Um, yea..." Kaoru muttered. Asaka stared at him, a bit confused, but then grinned at him.

"I barely know you, the only thing I do know is from Haruhi's stories," She started, causing Kaoru's face to drop in embarrassment and disappointment. "but I would love to get to know you better." Immediately his face perked up, and he smiled his former host club smile at her, causing butterflies to erupt in her stomach.

"Then it's a date."

* * *

Tamaki grudged through his classes, eversince they were expelled from Ouran, he's barely seen his friends, only eating lunch with them and maybe bothering Haruhi ever once in a while, but otherwise, compared to before, he was having problems coping.

"Tamaki, what's wrong?" Kiyomi asked him. Tamaki groaned and ignored her, instead looking out the window. "Tamaki, I'm trying to help you out, you don't have to be so rude about it." She huffed as she gave him another chance. This time he flipped over and made eye-contact with her, though not smiling, causing all the disappointed girls in the room to sigh.

"Ever since we transferred and the host club got disbanded, I feel like an anti-social! I miss my family!" He wailed. Kiyomi's mouth dropped open as a giant echoing 'What?!' raced through the room.

"Did you say host club?!" One girl exclaimed from behind Tamaki. He nodded his head, causing her to faint. Kiyomi noted that she had a nose-bleed mere seconds after.

"So wait, you're saying that you were in a _host club. _As in a club of guys who flirt with girls for their amusement?" Kiyomi questioned. Tamaki nodded his head again.

"Of course, and I miss it! All the princesses that I became friends with, and of course seeing their smiling faces!" He answered. The room went silent.

"Re-instate it here!" One girl cried out.

"We'll help!"

"_Please, Tamaki?" _

He looked around, bewildered at all the sudden outcry's for him to re-instate it here, then he cast a look towards Kyoya, who nodded his head before facing his attention back to his notebook. Tamaki cast a smile towards Kiyomi.

"I guess the host club is back in business!"

* * *

A:N: Ello! Another chapter down, I don't know how many more to go! Anyway, my break is almost over, so I may or may not get another chapter out by Tuesday, though for now, keep your eyes peeled!

Read and Review and I hope you enjoyed!


	8. Chapter 8

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Chapter Eight

"So, Hikaru, what are you doing that you're rushing around for?" Kaoru asked as he saw his twin run around the house.

"I'm trying really hard to keep a promise." Hikaru shouted across the room, undoing his tie and taking off his blazer and shirt, then switching into something else. Inside, he kinda regretted doing this for Mitsuki, he just met her not so long ago for heaven's sake, but no matter how rude he acts and is, he knew he had to at least keep the promise. Kaoru smirked to himself while typing on his laptop.

"If I didn't know better, I would think you're getting ready for a date." Kaoru replied. Hikaru stopped dead in his tracks and stared at his brother.

"_No, _I'm simply helping a friend over-come her shyness." He answered, causing Kaoru to laugh a little bit.

"Oh, so you're taking Mitsuki on a date?"

"I just said no!"

"After our brotherly love act at the host club, I stopped hearing no." Kaoru responded.

Hikaru eyed his twin suspiciously, he didn't like where this was going, though he sighed in defeat and then continued to get ready.

"She's helping me with my history assignment, while I'm helping her be more social." He muttered, all of a sudden, her heard a buzzing sound come from his blazer's pocket, and rushed for it, only to be beaten by his twin first, who immediately flipped the phone open and answered with a seductive 'hello', though in a split second, his face twisted into a slightly disgusted one, and then grumbled in disbelief before tossing the phone to Hikaru.

"Yea, it's not Mitsuki." Kaoru murmured, slouching down on the bed. Hikaru rolled his eyes as he took the phone.

"Hello?"

"_Hikaru!Please explain to me why Kaoru just hit on me!" _Tamaki's shrill voice rang through the receiver.

"Calm down boss! He thought you were Mitsuki!" He yelled back through the phone. Tamaki gave a sigh of relief before once again shouting through the phone,

"_Why was he expecting me to be Mitsuki?!" _

"That doesn't matter! Now, what is it you wanted to tell me?" Hikaru questioned, a few minutes later, Tamaki calmed down and regained his composure before answering.

"Oh yes, well thanks to me and the girls of class 2-A, the host club is now moving to the public high school! Kyoya's gotten permission and everything and they say we can start as soon as we want, so show up in the music room, tomorrow after school and don't forget Kaoru!" He exclaimed.

"Wait, it got re-instated?!"

"Yes! Now anyway, get the word out to everyone and you better be there!" Tamaki finished before hanging up. Hikaru shook off his disbelief and threw his phone on the bed.

"What did Tono want?" Kaoru asked. Hikaru grinned, forgetting everything that had happened in the past five minutes.

"Guess which two lucky twins are gonna be hosts again?"

Kaoru nearly jumped out of his seat.

"No way!"

Hikaru nodded, just as the phone buzzed again. Once again Kaoru beat him to it, though this time he looked at the caller ID first. Once he read the name, a mischievous smile caressed his face before he opened the phone.

"Hey Mitsuki." He mimicked Hikaru's voice, wrestling his brother off for the phone.

"Hi, um, when are we meeting?" Mitsuki whispered through the phone. Kaoru was a bit taken aback by how quiet she was still, but then went on.

"Whenever you want, you want me to pick you up?" He asked while running and locking himself in the bathroom he shared with his twin. Hikaru banged on the door repeatedly before Kaoru opened it again.

"Kaoru, you're being very rude, I'm talking to my future girlfriend, now can you please go and talk to whoever? You're ruining the moment." He teased Hikaru before slamming the door back in his face and getting back on the phone.

"Umm, I, uh," Mitsuki mumbled. Even though Kaoru didn't see her face to face, he knew that she was blushing extremely hard, something he'd grown to notice while being in the host club; lot's of stuttering always led to red faces.

"Yes, sweetheart?" Kaoru asked flirtatiously, immediately he heard the phone drop on her side and stood, a bit shocked at the sudden reaction. "Mitsuki? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, you can come if you want to." She answered a minute later, and then hanging up. He smirked to himself, _mission accomplished._

After walking out of the bathroom, he saw Hikaru sitting on their bed, playing with the buttons on his shirt, but he popped up the second he saw Kaoru.

"You asshole."

"This asshole right here also just made a deal that you would go pick up your date, don't wanna disappoint now do you? I mean, what type of name would that put on you as a host?" Kaoru smiled happily. Hikaru gave him a similar one, if similar means sardonically.

"This isn't over yet," Hikaru answered while grabbing his jacket and walking out of the room, but then returned to pop his head back in, "by the way, Asaka called."

That took the smile right off Kaoru's face.

* * *

As Hikaru walked up to the quaint, (well, that was the nicer word he used) house of the Sakuragi's, he rang the doorbell, and was taken aback when a rather young looking man answered the door. He smelled heavily of alcohol, and hadn't shaved in over three days, his mere presence was enough to send Hikaru right back around, but it wasn't the thing that did. It was the fact, that this man could very well be Mitsuki's father.

"What the hell do you want?"

"All I want is to keep my promise and pick up Mitsuki." Hikaru replied, obviously repulsed and at the point of choking from the heavy and damp scent of the saki drafting out of the shabby home. The man took one good, long look at Hikaru before clicking his tongue, as if he just found out the million dollar question.

"You're here to take my daughter out on a date? You look pretty rich, I'm not that reluctant to say no," He answered, but pulled up his sleeves. "too bad I'm going to anyway." Hikaru gave him a look, as if he didn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"Listen, I'm not here to take her out on a date, and besides, I'm probably one of the better guys she'll see anyway judging by the fact that you live in a horrible neighborhood." He responded non-nonchalantly. Mr. Sakuragi started mumbling something incoherent, but seemed like he was about to let loose a punch before Mitsuki, who was clearly a good foot shorter than him, appeared around the corner and got in between him and Hikaru.

"Let's go." She mumbled quietly, pulling on Hikaru's jacket.

"Mitsuki, are you just gonna let some guy talk to me like that!" Her dad yelled at her, she slowly shook her head, but kept inching more and more away from her drunken father.

"Dinner is in the kitchen, make sure you don't throw it up." She muttered before this time turning and running off with Hikaru, or rather dragging him, she didn't allow him to stop until they were well out of the range of her house, causing both of them to be out of breath and tired.

"Well? Is there something you wanna explain?!" Hikaru exclaimed between pants. Mitsuki quietly shook her head, instead looking back again as if someone was following them. Hikaru released a deep sigh, and then held out his hand to her, which she just stared at confused. "As a host of the Ouran High School Host Club, it's my honor to escort you this evening." He smiled charmingly at her. She looked like a deer in headlights, before coming to a realization.

"Host club?!"

"Yea, back at the academy, the guys and I were in a host club, apparently it got reinstated here, so I have to get back in 'gentlemen' mode. Anyway, c'mon, we don't have all day, besides, I kinda want an explanation as to what happened there." He tsked his tongue at her. She sighed and took his hand, which he still had extended.

"I don't wanna keep you waiting, do I?"

* * *

A:N: Ello! Sorry I was gone for so long, school is kinda hectic and then I have lots and lots of soccer stuff too ^^'

Anywhosie, I have something planned for the upcoming chapters, and I think you'll like it, but if you don't, I apologize in advance.

R&R and I hope you liked this chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Chapter 9

"... and that's my life over the past year." Hikaru explained with a smile while messing with his ice cream. Mitsuki sat on the other side of the table, shock erupting from her face, and her mouth gaping open, which she quickly closed once she realized it was.

"That sounds interesting..." Mituski mumbled, staring down at her barely touched treat. Hikaru waited for her to add on, but when they were sitting in silence for three minutes, he decided to speak up again.

"You know, there's probably gonna be a ball sometime soon, knowing Kyoya and the boss, they like to go big when it comes to business, but anyway, you should come, it'll be a great way for you to interact with people." He chirped, though inside he still felt a tad bit guilty over that first day they met, making him wonder why she was so special, out of all the girls Kaoru and him had upset, he just wanted to set this right. Maybe it's because she was shy? Or perhaps it's because she was getting bullied by other people? Either way, he was going to make sure that this girl was going to end her last year of high school in a big bang.

"A ball?" She quietly asked. Hikaru nodded.

"It's basically host club tradition to have one every once in a while. Guys and girls alike dress up and it's just fun in general."

Mitsuki stayed quiet, contemplating the thought, when finally she spoke up again.

"I can't go."

"What? Why not?"

"Reasons."

"But what reasons?" Hikaru demanded. She was making it _extraordinarily _hard to make her life fun.

"My parents..."

"Forget your parents, I'll sneak you out if I have to, or if it's money problems, don't worry about it, I'll personally pick out the dress myself and pay for it! Oh I can see it now! Perhaps a ocean blue? That sounds gr-" Hikaru exclaimed before getting cut off.

"It's not that!" Mitsuki replied, a lot louder than she usually spoke, in fact, it drew the attention of a few people, but of course Hikaru himself was shocked the most.

"Then what is it?" He questioned. She let out a deep breath and Hikaru could see her eyes get watery, causing him to panic. He would be a dead man if she started crying.

"If I'm not there, there isn't any guarantee that they'll eat, or stay off the alcohol, hiding it only lasts so long, they'll eventually find it," she began. Hikaru looked at her, concern in his eyes, when suddenly he saw a bit of a purple mark peeking out from underneath her sweater. Now that he noticed, did she ever wear anything except for sweaters?

"But how are you supposed to live your life if that's all your worrying about?" He asked. He could see Mitsuki bite her lower lip, but then stare back up at him after releasing a heavy sigh.

"I guess I wouldn't then." She answered. Hikaru grinned at her, while she gave him a confused look back, what was he about to do?

"Since you're finally looking at this from my viewpoint, we can now talk about your dress-"

"But who said I wanted to go?"

He gave a sly smirk before standing up and chuckling a bit to himself.

"Me."

* * *

"Where are we?" Mitsuki asked, being dragged by Hikaru into a vast, gigantic store. As far as her eye could see, she saw clothes, different shapes and sizes, colors and saturation, the combinations were endless. She blinked in surprise as a smile chord struck her, what was the Hitachiin empire about again?

"This is one of my mom's stores, but back here," Hikaru answered, pulling her to a part of the building filled with beautiful, elegant dresses. "is the evening section. I'm gonna get a dress for you, and you won't even have to pay a penny."

Mitsuki stuttered over her words, she wanted to tell him that she couldn't possibly accept the present, but the words had failed to make their way out of her mouth.

"Don't even complain, just take this and try it on." He continued, taking a sleeveless, dark purple dress off the shelf, handing it to the petite girl and then pointing to the dressing room on the other side of the section.

She gulped, a bit scared to touch the silk pattern, but finally made her way to the room, where after five minutes of just letting everything soak in, she heard a banging on the door.

"Hey, are you finished yet? I have other dresses for you to try on." She heard Hikaru call through the door. Quickly she got dressed, and eventually stepped out of the room, embarrassed by the way Hikaru was looking at her.

"It looks good, a bit loose, but otherwise it's fine." He complimented, looking back around and then handing her a dark blue dress, this one was glittery and had a giant white bow around the middle, though it was also sleeveless, but Hikaru handed her a snowy white cardigan to match it.

For the next two hours, they were trying different outfits, mixing and matching different accessories and shoes until Mitsuki finally had to sit down from sore feet. Hikaru joined her, sitting next to her and ticking off something on a list he had in his hand.

"So, what do you think?" He questioned, writing something down. Mitsuki stuttered.

"They're all very pretty..." She murmured. Hikaru slightly laughed at that.

"Of course, Kaoru and I designed them! But which one do you like best?" He demanded. She had an unamused look on her face as she mad a slight connection between 'rich' and 'narcissist', but then calmed down as she started to think about it.

"I, um, like that blue one." She mentioned, pointing to the second one she tried on. Hikaru nodded, as if to say that it was a good choice and then went over and picked not only the blue one up, but also two other dresses, one a light salmon color that was short and ruffly, and the other being a one-shouldered red one, with multiple layers of mixing oranges to give it a look that slightly resembled fire, along with the top part being sprinkled with black sparkles, almost giving it an ashy effect. Both of the other dresses she had tried on before, but she didn't think they looked that good on her.

"Why did you grab all three?"

"You'll need more than one dress for more than one occasion." Hikaru explained, heading off towards the counter in the middle of the store. Mitsuki struggled to catch up at the pace that he was going.

"But that's too much!"

"Just take it as an early birthday present then."

"You don't even know when my birthday is!"

"You know, when you get angry, you're a lot more talkative, I guess I should do this more often."

Mitsuki stomped her foot and held her breath for ten seconds before opening her mouth to speak again, but was cut off by Hikaru.

"September 1st."

"What?"

"That's your birthday, isn't it? September 1st?"

She stared at him, astonished that he had already somehow wiggled his way into her personal life.

"How did you know that?" She asked quietly, while Hikaru quickly spoke to the woman at the counter, telling her to put it on his tab.

"Well, I did some research into you, trying to find out some ways to help you. Some of the things I found out were quite interesting. Like for instance, you speak six different languages."

"Which ones?"

"English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian. Why you need to know all those, is a bit of a mystery to me."

"What else do you know?"

"You love Harry Potter, so you love the fact that your birthday is September 1st."

Mitsuki was slightly impressed, though at the same time a bit embarrassed that he knew so much about her.

"Anyway, let's get going, it's getting late."

"My parents won't care what time I get back." She answered, taking the bags from Hikaru as they walked down the street. The air became very still as the two stopped walking for a moment, but then continued again. The awkward silence got to Hikaru though, as he started speaking again.

"So, what time do you want me to pick you up the day of the ball?"

Mitsuki looked at him like he was crazy, but then remembered who he was after all, causing her to smile. She realized how easy it is to talk to him, almost too easy actually, but at the same time, it was nice to be able to trust somebody, though never in a million years would she expect it to be him.

* * *

A:N: Heylo! Sorry that it took me so long to update, I don't have too much time to myself. (A lot of it is taken up by Doctor Who and Sherlock marathons...) But here it is! The next chapter! I hope that during Thanksgiving break, I'll have more time to write, but for now, I'm trying about one chapter a week, so anyway, enjoy the small bits of writing that I'm hoping is good! I love all you people! (But especially the ones who review :)


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